Eugene bourdon



N, PErERs. PHDTO-LITMOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON. D c.

E-UGNE BOUYRDON, OF PARIS, FRANCE.

Letters Patent No. 70,511, dated November 5, 1867.

IMPROVED DEVICE POE OPERATING FOLDING VALVES.

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To ALL WHOM 1T MAY coNoERN:

Bezit known that I, EUGNE BOURBON, Engincer,of 36 Rue de Malte, Paris,in 4the Empire of France, have invented Improvements iuV-alves forRegulating the Flow of Liquids, Gases, and other ElastilczFluidsf and Ido hereby declare that the following is a fulland exact descriptionthereof, retercncc being had to the accompanying sheet of drawing, andto thejigures and letters ofreference marked thereon. i

In pipes used for conveying water, gases, or other elastic fluids,thercare cocks, and clack and other valves' for regulatingtheirldistribution, and, when the pressure ofthe iluid is very great,considerable power is required to open and to close these cocks andvalves. i v

To overcome this diiculty I have invented aiiexible valvewbich openseasily, with very little force. This valve is nothing but a membrane,that is to say, a strip orbajid of suppllmerial, fitting exactly'on theedges of the openings by which the water or the gases are to issue, invorder to close the said openings. Y This strip or band is attached tothe end of. a lever, which unrolls it`in applying it on the orificewhich is to be closed, or winds it up in lifting it when the orifice-isto be opened. I make these valves of thin skin, of lpgthemof Indiarubber, of gutta percha, or other analogous material, according to thenature of the fluid whiclris to be retained, and also according to thedimensions which I mst give to them. In every case these flexible valvesmust be of a material impervious to the uid which is to be retained, andnot to be attacked thereby. Thus, for water or air, I make my valves ofleather, of India rubber, of a woven fabric prepared with India rubber,or of gutta percha. For illuminating gas, I can make them of greasyleather, of cloth, or felt Yimpregnat ed with a fatty matter, ofsulphurized India rubber, or analogous material. For steam, I make themof wire gauze, lined or coated with some soft and elastic material whichwill till its meshes. I might also use an assemblage of small copperplates, brought edgeto edge by hinges, which would give them thepliability requisite for the winding up and unwindng of the valve; or Ican use certain combinations of metallic plates and wires which havealmost as much Ilexibility as membranes.

A It will be observed that oneof the great: advantages of these flexiblevalves is that they close hermetically, by fitting exactly onthe edgesof the openings, without any previous dressing or grinding of thesurfaces in contact, which saves labor both in fitting these valves andin keeping them in repair.

To enable others skilled in the art to understand and use my invention,I will now proceed to describe the manner in which the same is or may becarried into e'ect by 'reference to the accompanying drawings.

Figures 1 and 2 are two sections of one of these valves in its box, thefirst following the line A. B, and the second the line C D.

M is the valve-box or chamber. It may be closed in front by a sheetofgla-ss, I, which will permit inspec# tion of the working of lthevalve.

The water enters by the elbow pipe?, and issues through the orice R,which is composed o f a number of small holes, lm m an, pierced in theplate T or bottom of the box. All those openings m fm m are closed bythe flexible valve Q,`which is a strip of leather fitting exactly on theplate T.

It will be evident that ifthc outlet It were a single opening, thevalve, not finding sufficient support, would sink into this opening, andwould soon be destroyed.

The valve Q is attached at one cndto the extremity of a lever-arm, L,and at the other to the plateA T.

' The lever L is joined to the axle K K,avl1ich passes out of the box,traversing with gentle friction thc screw-jacket J, and`thc conical part:o forms a hermeticaljoint. A handle, which is fixed on the end K ofthis axle, serves to give it motion, that is to say, to open and closethe valve Q. When the lever is-in the position indicated by L, the valveis stretched and the orifice R closed; but when this lever is broughtfrom L to L', it lifts the valve, which winds in the direction of Q',and then the orifice R or the passages .m 'm m open almost Withouteifort. g

AThe figs. 3 and 4 show another arrangementof flexible valve, the sameletters indicating the same parts as -in the preceding gures. i

Figure `isa front view of the box, with its valve, and

Figure 4 is a section of'it at X X.

M is the box, closed in front by the sheet of glass I; Pthe inlet and Rthe outlet pipe.

T is a cylindrical concave plate, adjusted at the bottom of the box, andpierced with holes m m m, for the exit of the iuid by the elbow pipe R.

Q is the exible valve, say of leather, attached at one end to the leverL and at the other to the plate T.

`This valve is opened and closed by means of the handlef, fixed on theend K of the axle of thelever L.

The Figures 5 and 6 are a front and a sectional view at y y of anotherflexible-valve box, which may bo used advantageously in place of what istermed a two-way cock.

P is the inlet pipe, and there are two outlet pipes, R and R, separatedby a partition, A, which runs between the bottom of the box and theplate T. i

The valve Q Q' is double, and is shown in the position in which itcloses the two orifices. If the lever L is turned to the right it opensthe orifice R, and if it is turned to the left it opens R. Thisarrangement of valve bears a great analogy to the slide-valves of steamengines, and might replace them very advantageously, which I reserve theright of doing. The steam would arrive by the pipe P, and enter thecylinder at one end by the orifice R,and' at the other end by theorifice R. In this case the box M would be a steam-chest'. l

Figure 7 is the front view of a eXble-valve box, the plate T of which isa cylindrical surface, slightly' convex, the effect being that thevalve, when placed in the position shown on the drawing at Q, findsit'selt` tightly stretched on the plate T, which is a condition requiredfor the perfect closing` of the orifice. When the lever comes from L toL the valve is entirely raised.

Figure 8 is a front view of the same box, with lexible valve, but thevalve is connected with the lever L in another way. It is, however,still drawn and stretched on the convex plate T, but drawn moredirectly.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

The combination with the valve-box, and suitable orifice or orificesformed therein, of the menibrancous or flexible valve, and lever foroperating the same, substantially as and for the purposes herein setforth.

E. BOURBON.

Witnesses BnnssoN, JAMES HAND.

